Hapoel Tel Aviv shocked Beitar Jerusalem 3-1 in the capital city after a day that began with the news that the Reds training facility had been ravaged by fire. Haim Silvas’s team arrived at Teddy Stadium together with a few thousand fans looking to impress their new American based ownership group led by the Mincberg brothers, David and Michael and that’s exactly what they did.

With emotions running high ahead of the game, Hapoel Tel Aviv fans threw flares onto the pitch to heat up the action both on and off of the field of play which inspired Hrvoje Ilic’s 15th minute goal to give the reds an early 1-0 lead. However, El Yam Kancepolsky’s reckless tackle on Tamir Adi just ahead of the break left Hapoel with just ten men for the balance of the clash. Beitar took advantage of the extra man immediately when Danilo Asprilla’s half scissors kick off a corner sent the ball squarely into the back of the goal to head into halftime all knotted up at 1-1.

Yossi Abuksis’s side pressed for a go ahead goal throughout the second half but it was Hapoel who broke through when marksman Alen Ozbolt beat Beiter keeper Miguel Silva in the 82nd minute while Hisham Layous added an insurance marker in injury time to take the shocking win.

“It was a very tough day with many things that occurred that wasn’t connected to the game,” Hapoel coach Haim Silvas said. “I don’t know if we should have played the game after what had happened, but this was a terrific win and we were happy to give it to our fans. The red card and the goal just at halftime gave Beitar the opportunity to comeback into the game and we suffered for an entire half but we were able to take the win.”

“To lose a game like this against a team with only 10 men for an entire half, we missed chances and this felt like the last few moments of the season,” Beitar coach Yossi Abuksis said. “We controlled the entire game and we couldn’t take points. We didn’t play with our heads at all and this was a tough loss.”